The strange number on my caller ID informed me this was not a usual call
202?
Who the hell could this be, was it even real?
I was a freshman in college, full of enthusiasm and optimism. Volunteering for the Obama re-election campaign as an internship. Rumors had swirled around the office the POTUS was planing a stop in Reno to stump for the campaign.
Hello?
Hi, Is this Morgan? This is ***** from the White House.
No fucking way I thought.
The president is going to visit Reno to deliver a speech and we need help staffing the event. Are you available?
I simply said yes.
I was given an address, told a time to show up and the staffer quickly hung up. Looking up the address on maps I was dismayed how far it was from campus housing. I had no vehicle, only a skateboard and wondered how the hell I was going to get there. In nice clothes I skated the 4 miles each way to the event site. Reno has some rough neighborhoods and my route took me through some seedy places. I was equally afraid about skating past the pit bulls and barbed wire fences as I was getting robbed for my appearance.
The speech was unique in that the President was slated to speak from the incredibly average driveway of a Reno couple. He was promoting a government program that he spearheaded and the couple was a testimonial to its efficacy. I checked in and met the White House staffer who contacted me, I felt pretty damn cool at 19 being given this responsibility and a dorky badge. Each of the local campaign office staffers was given a run down of their tasks. Some folks would usher in Air Force One at the airport, others would line the motorcade route. When the staffer called out my position I was shocked. I was to wrangle the media and stand between the press box and the podium making sure nobody stepped forward and that everyone had the right credentials. With our roles plotted out I skated home for the next day.
Hours before the speech was to start, the prep began. Watching the secret service was impressive, they had snipers on roofs in every direction, the entire neighborhood was locked down to even enter. This was my introduction to the carnival of politics, but I loved every moment. I checked badges on reporters three and four times my age, I told Fox News where to stand and NPR and Telemundo etc.
There were many surreal moments in those two days, but mainly lots of pomp and circumstance for a pretty mediocre speech. I remember more the suffer to skate the distance to and from. However as the President finished his speech, he walked with the Secret Service towards the crowd. "I want to thank the volunteers. Who here is working the campaign?" I cheered and Obama came walking towards me. We shook hands, he told me 'Thank You' and I nodded back, a frog in my throat. I grabbed my Flip video camera to snag a clip. The video came out just a snippet as he was shuffled back into his motorcade.
Anybody will tell you politics is about image and while it was nothing for the dude to come shake my hand. It was probably the only time I will touch a world leader, let alone one of the coolest dudes to do it in my opinion. And to my tin foil hat dorm mate, he's def. not a Lizard bro.
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| Obama in Reno, May 11th, 2012. |